Kennedy Dietz
English 10-1, Mrs.Johansen.
Fulford has a very strong opinion when he says in his essay that “Even in bookstores, literature is often pushed aside by journalism, how-to manuals, and cook books” In other words, he is saying that people are no longer interested about reading new stories and adventures. Today if you went to a bookstore what kind of books would you see on the top seller shelf? Most books written are now autobiographies of celebrities or fantasy novels. However, that may not be a bad thing. I believe despite what you are reading, as long as you are reading you are learning whether it is vocabulary words, different cultures or different places of the world. Does it really matter if it is fiction or nonfiction?
I believe that reading is very important to a developing brain and is essential to learning. As long as kids are reading they are learning something. When reading a how-to manual they are learning a skill that they did not know before. When reading a cook book they are learning different foods and measurements. By reading any type of book you are increasing your vocabulary and your spelling. If you are reading a book and you do not recognize a word your first instinct is to look it up, therefore expanding your vocabulary. In a fiction novel you may be learning just as much as you would in a history book. Just because the book is not entirely true, doesn’t mean that you won’t be getting any educational value from it. As long as people are reading why complain about what they are reading? They are learning either way.
I believe that children learn values from their role models. When they read books they are observing cause and effect happening in other people’s lives. If a child were reading a book about a war that had happened such as one of the world wars they may only be seeing non-positive characteristics in the people they are reading about. However, when they read a fiction book the main character, or whoever the character may be that they are learning and observing from is generally a very good person. They are made up, and by making up a character you can make them do whatever you want, you can make them say whatever you want. Therefore you can create a perfect role model for a child to read and observe. Would you rather have your child reading about a character that is a valued member of society and a good person but is not real or a character that is causing wars and death who is real?
Although, the main dispute in this quote is not entirely about whether fiction is better than non-fiction. There are tons of books that are autobiographies of celebrities or people who have lived before us and made a huge impact on the world. They are real people and as you read the book about their life you learn from their experiences and if you enjoy the book you may even start to feel the way they felt as they were dealing with these obstacles in their lives. Not only are these books amusing, you truly can learn from them. If you are reading a book about someone who was hooked on a hard core drug you read about what they went through and it helps keep you away from doing what they did. You learn from other people’s mistakes because they shared their stories. You see the positive and negative things in these people’s life so you strive to be like them in the positive ways but avoid the negative.
To conclude I believe that Fulford is wrong in saying that it is a negative impact on the world by having literature pushed aside by journalism. It is important for us to be aware of what has happened in the past, but also to be aware of what is going on in our world now so we can prevent future incidents. Reading is learning no matter what type of book you are reading. It will improve you spelling and vocabulary, just to name a few benefits. Children learn values and important lessons in life from reading, also. They learn about new places, new cultures, new languages etc. You learn